Rubik's Cube
by lovelyambroses
Summary: Kate's life was just beginning to calm down after serious of unfortunate events. The last thing she needed was for a newly-retired wrestler to move in next door, looking for a fresh start; however, that's exactly what she got.


_Chapter One – An Introduction_

"There weren't enough boxes in the attic to fit all of his shit. I just started using trash bags." Kate pulled her cellphone from here ear, placing it on the kitchen bar and turning speaker on. "I didn't realize how much he actually kept at _my _place."

A laugh was heard from the other end. "You're the one who let him stay there so many times."

"It was fun at first! You know how he was."

"Charming, funny, deceiving," Marie trailed off.

Kate closed her eyes and sighed. "I get it."

"Just be glad it's over and done with."

The strawberry blonde glanced around her, noting the emptiness that swallowed the 700-square-foot apartment. Only six days had passed since she kicked her bum-of-a-boyfriend out and she was only just beginning to sense the new life ahead of her. Granted, they had only dated for less than a year, but they spent the majority of it arguing and feeling miserable. It was only a matter of time before one of them grew sick of the other.

Truth be told, Kate was glad she was the one who made the final call. She was never one to handle break-ups from the receiving end very well.

"I am," Kate reassured her friend. "I guess it's easier said than done when your best friend lives in a completely different time zone."

Before Marie could speak, she heard a loud thud come from Kate's end. "The hell was that?"

Kate shook her head. "I think someone is moving in next door. I've been hearing that racket all day long."

"Oh, okay. Anyway, I told you that I would visit you in the summer. As soon as my program finishes and I get my certificate I am catching the first flight out of this place."

Kate chuckled. "To think you were so thrilled to move to London."

"I _was_! That's the part that sucks," Marie lowered her voice and began to whisper. "The worst part has been my roommate."

"You've told me way too much about her."

"That's because she's crazy! The other day I walked in on her using my toothbrush – to clean _her _retainer!"

Holding back a laugh, the blonde leaned forward, resting her forearms on the countertop. "I told you not to accept that housing offer from the internet."

"I needed a place to stay, and I'm out of here in a few weeks. I'll survive." A doorknob in the background of the call could be heard rattling from Kate's end and the sound of Marie catching her breath followed. "She's back; I'll have to talk later. Don't you dare answer any calls from that asshole without consulting me first, do you understand?"

Although invisible to the other woman, Kate stood straight and mocked a salute. "Aye-aye, captain!"

The line died and Kate's phone went black.

* * *

Nothing can beat the smell of overpriced liquor and cheap cigarettes. Especially when it pours out of the infamous _Kelly's _pub in the heart of downtown Sun Spur, Colorado.

Sun Spur, existing just south of Denver, was the only town Kate Reilly had ever lived in. Born into a small family, she didn't see leaving as an option, so even after growing up she stayed. It seemed to only make sense.

Kate's parents passed before she was old enough to speak, so her and her older brother bounced between her two aunt's houses in Sun Spur before settling in with their grandmother who – you guessed it – also lived in Sun Spur. When Kate graduated from high school, she planned to attend college in Denver, but then her grandmother passed and the purpose for her higher educated seemed to slip from her fingertips. She tried the community college thing for a while, earning her associate's degree in journalism, but that was all she could manage.

With that degree, she tried to land some jobs in Denver with local news outlets and writing centers, but when that all fell through she opted to write a blog. To her surprise, the blog did fairly well. In fact, it did so well that it was viewed more frequently by more people nationally than anything else was that came from the places she had applied to in Denver.

The only problem was that Kate couldn't handle that pressure, so she sold her blog for a decent sum of money. That, combined with the money she received after the passing of her parents and her grandmother, covered her school fees and then some.

She didn't have enough for a mansion, but a wholesome apartment in Sun Spur was all she needed.

It was right after she sold her blog that she found _Kelly's_. She went there after getting into a screaming match with her ex and reading a few good reviews online, and the place did not disappoint.

It had everything she was looking for: music, cute boys, and liquor to make the cute boys into hot men.

She decided to take an Uber from her apartment to the bar only an hour after she got off the phone with Marie. She figured she was less inclined to make a bad decision – call her ex – if her hands were busy pouring vodka down her throat.

Kate didn't even know why her urge to drink away the night was so intense. She was in relief that her relationship was over. No negative thoughts or feelings surrounded the decision that she made to call it quits. Perhaps it was suppressed sadness? Perhaps she missed him more than she believed to? Perhaps she was just truly so happy to be done with the jackass.

She chose to settle for the last one.

"One more round," Kate demanded with a sweet smile.

The bartender, Max, could only roll his eyes. "You said that about two rounds ago."

"Aaaaaand?" Kate sang. "I'm still going to pay!"

"Are we celebrating or wallowing in self-pity tonight?" Max asked as he poured another shot of vodka into the cocktail in front of him.

Reaching across the bar to pull the filled glass towards her, Kate let out a proud laugh. "Why, celebrating of course! Everything in my life is finally started to come together."

"Did you and what's-his-face get back together?"

A sour expression washed over the blonde's face. "Hell no!"

All Max could do was laugh in response before being pulled away to another customer. All Kate could do was chug her drink. It wasn't long before she felt a vibration coming from her lap.

Glancing down – and surprising herself with the fact that despite all of her dancing around, her phone was still in her lap – Kate saw a notification pop up on her screen.

"_Are you free to talk? I need to get a few things off my chest."_

Disgust filled Kate's chest. "I think the fuck not!"

Her outburst was just loud enough that everyone sitting at the booths behind her jerked their heads in her direction. She was too drunk to notice.

"I'll take it you don't want me to sit here."

The words came from her left, so Kate slowly turned her way around. Dark denim jeans, black shirt, and a black leather jacket made their way into focus for her soft blue eyes. Suddenly she was fixated on the man in front of her.

He dressed like a local, but he most definitely wasn't.

"I'm sorry?" Kate managed to spit out.

The man smirked at her confusion, displaying a charming dimple in his cheek. "Is someone sitting here, yes or no?"

"No," she replied in spite of his curt tone. "Nobody is sitting here. But, nobody is sitting at any of the three other open stools that aren't right next to somebody."

Without responding, the man plopped himself down next to Kate and stuck out his hand. "The name is Dean. Dean Ambrose."

"Dean Ambrose." The name rolled out of her mouth so smoothly, but she couldn't figure out why it sounded so familiar. "You're new here, Dean Ambrose."

"That I am. I take it that you're not."

Kate couldn't take her eyes off of Dean for a split second. Her lips were pursed together as if there were words on the tip of her tongue, but she was deeply struggling to find words she felt appropriate to say aloud. Before she could speak, however, Max returned and interrupted her thoughts.

"What can I get you?"

Dean nodded to the beers behind the bar. "I'll have whatever your personal favorite on tap is."

"You got it," Max replied before shooting a subtle look Kate's way – a look that she definitely didn't pick up on.

"You feel so familiar," Kate mumbled under her breath.

"I _feel _familiar?" Dean chuckled. "Let me guess – drinking away the pain?" He gestured towards the already-empty glass in front of the woman.

Looking down, Kate suddenly felt a rush of embarrassment. "This? Oh, no. I'm celebrating."

"Hey," he began before receiving his beer from Max, "I am too."

"Really – what are you celebrating?"

Dean cleared his throat. He was no stranger to awkward bar conversations, but this one was shaping up to be one for the books. "I just retired."

"Retired? You don't look a day over 40."

"40, really? You're officially cut off."

Kate let out a drunken belly laugh and covered her face with her hands. "You know what I mean!" Resting her cheek on her hand, she looked up at him. "No, really – what are you celebrating?"

"I'm not kidding. I just retired."

"Retired from what?"

"Wrestling," Dean replied without looking for reaction.

Kate searched the man's face for clues. "Wrestling…were you like, a coach or something?"

The innocent question prompted the first genuine smile Dean felt in what seemed like years. "Professional wrestling," he corrected himself. "I used to be a professional wrestler."

"Like, for the WWF?"

"WWE."

Suddenly it clicked. She _had _seen him before. "Oh shit."

"Don't tell me you're a fan," he retorted sarcastically.

"No, but my nephew is." Her palm smacking her forehead, Kate's embarrassment returned. "I feel so stupid! I think he even has a poster of you in his room."

Dean shook his head. "Not really something I wanted to hear right about now, but thanks for that."

"Sorry, I'm just…wow. I'm really drunk and I'm sitting next to a celebrity."

"Celebrity is kind of a harsh word," he explained. "Television personality is more like it at this point."

Kate shook her head. "Okay, I apologize for all of the stupid things I've said thus far. I'll tone it down."

"Shut the fuck up," he said with the same smirk he entered the bar with. "Don't get all nervous – order another drink or something."

"You cut me off."

Dean's smirk turned into a full smile at the reminder. "Damn, you're right."

Kate returned the smile. Despite feeling her inhibitions completely fade away from all the alcohol in her system, there was a warmness filling her chest that she knew wasn't attributed to the liquor. She had nearly forgotten what it felt like to flirt with someone who wasn't her boyfriend. It felt nice.

"So, Dean Ambrose - why did you retire?"

Downing the last sip of his beer, Dean shook his head. "Not exactly a story I feel like getting into tonight."

"I have to know more about you if this is going anywhere," she said without thinking.

"I didn't know this was going anywhere." Kate's jaw tensed at his rebuttal, but suddenly Dean's smile returned. "It's a joke, blondie. Don't get your panties in a twist."

* * *

The familiar sound of a dumpster being pushed across cracked pavement woke Kate up. The pounding in her head instantly made her want to curl back into a ball and cover herself with thick blankets, but when she reached down to do so, she felt only a thin sheet she didn't recognize.

Slowly opening her eyes to the sunlight that had crept its way through the uncovered blinds, she realized that she wasn't in her bedroom. In fact, she wasn't in her own apartment at all.

To further add to her confusion, she wasn't wearing her own clothes either. In fact, she wasn't wearing _any _clothes.

Pulling the sheets up to her chest, Kate sat up and looked around. She had absolutely no idea where she was or how she got there. Nobody was in the bed next to her, but someone had been at some point – that part was clear.

Kate let out a gentle sigh and noticed a leather jacket laying on top of a cardboard box. That was the moment she remembered some of what happened.

At least, to be more specific, she remembered _who _happened.

Quickly, while moving methodically as to not disturb her pounding head too much more, Kate got out of bed and searched around the floor for her clothes. Piece by piece she assembled the outfit she had thrown together the night before when she got ready to head to _Kelly's_, but much to her dismay, she couldn't seem to find her purse or her phone.

"Shit," she whispered quietly to herself. _How the fuck am I supposed to get home?_

Closing her eyes briefly, she made the executive decision to leave the bedroom and begin searching the place for her remaining belongings.

Walking slowly, Kate inched her way towards the door. She turned the knob at a pace where nobody could hear a thing and turned as soon as she crossed the threshold so she could insure that it wouldn't make a sound when closing.

"Your phone is in your bag, which is on the kitchen counter."

The voice shot bolts of heat down Kate's back. Jumping around, she met eyes with Dean. "Dean," she said before clearing her throat.

"Good morning to you too." Sitting with his legs propped up on a coffee table, Dean reached his TV remote out to turn it off. "It's about time you woke up. I decided to be a gentleman and watch the local news with the captions on instead of sound."

"How sweet," she replied. Glancing over at the counter, she spotted her purse exactly where he said it would be. "Did you-"

"Go through your shit," he completed her thought. "No. I'm an asshole but I'm not a heathen."

Kate nodded her head. She didn't know how she felt about seeing him sit so casually across the room from her as if they hadn't stayed up most of the night having sex. That hazy memory alone was enough to make her cheeks grow red.

Whether it was embarrassment or lust that she felt, she couldn't quite tell.

"Well, I guess I'll find my way home now. Thank you for letting me stay the night."

"We were both drunk, but again, I'm not a heathen."

Kate sent a quick smile his way. "I had a good time." She immediately regretted her words.

Dean chuckled and nodded. "Same," he agreed.

The woman put her head down and walked over to her purse. Without saying anything else, she grabbed her things and made her way out the front door.

Her eyes still closed, Kate rested her back against the wall next to his front door before sliding down to the floor beneath her. She couldn't believe she just slept with Dean Ambrose – even though she didn't _really _know who he was prior to.

What was Marie going to say when she told her?

That thought was too much to handle. Kate shook her head and stood up, preparing herself to make the walk of shame, but as she reached into her purse to grab her phone so she could order herself a ride, something stopped her. Glancing down, she stared at the awkward pattern on the carpet beneath her. She had seen it before. In fact, she _knew _that pattern.

Ever so slowly, the woman began to look up and down the hallway. The redness that had previously warmed her cheeks was returning with a vengeance that she had never felt before. Over her shoulder, she checked Dean's apartment number, staring at it for enough time to memorize it.

Without making a sound, Kate turned completely around and began walking in the opposite direction of the elevator, stopping at the apartment next to Dean's. She knew the key in her purse would fit into the lock like a puzzle piece.

Because, Dean Ambrose was her new neighbor.


End file.
